Sun Voyager - Photographer Max Leu
Location: Reykjavik, Iceland
Date: July 2017
Photographer: Max Leu
Home Country: United States
University Affiliation: Alumni
Category: Arts and Culture
Awards: Honorable Mention
Facebook - Sun Voyager
"The Sun Voyager, or Solfar, sculpture sits right on the water, across the bay from Mt. Esja, in the capital city of Iceland and was designed as part of a contest that was celebrating the capital's 200th anniversary. Although it looks like it is depicting a viking long boat, which would make sense in Iceland, the original designer, Jon Gunnar Arnason, created the sculpture to be a dream boat and an ode to the sun. "It holds the promise of hope, progress, and freedom." To be perfectly honest, I didn't know any of this until after I had already returned home from Iceland. Like most people, I just took my picture and moved on with my life. It's something I tend to regret after I travel places. I get caught up in just seeing things like this and I don't spend time appreciating the culture and the stories behind landmarks. One of the reasons I submitted this photo was because I probably would have appreciated this sculpture more while I was there if I had actually taken the time to find out about the story behind this art piece, and I'll take it as a reminder to be more mindful when I'm taking pictures of something that is culturally significant to someone else."